Following a long and in-depth debriefing, Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo gathered together all the staff of the Gestione Sportiva in the Logistica pavilion yesterday in order to look at the current situation as the final third of the season approaches.

Along with Stefano Domenicali and senior engineers, Fernando Alonso was also present, having flown back from Budapest with the team, as he is spending a few days working alongside his engineers, before the final phase of the World Championship.

There was spontaneous applause for the Spaniard and also, in absentia for his Brazilian teammate, who has already flown back to Brazil to spend the summer break with his family. However, it is clearl that the work load has to be stepped up even further, and it needs to be of the highest standard in order to close the technical gap to the fastest cars, which is significant.

"It was a very busy July, which ended in a very nice way for us," di Montezemolo told the Ferrari website. "Especially when you look at where we are today, compared to one month ago. For this, I wish to thank our entire workforce, because they put in so much effort to achieve these results.

"In Hockenheim, we finished first and second and yesterday we came away with second and fourth places, which was the most we could have achieved. The engineers put their heads down and worked on improving the car and the drivers did a great job: Fernando got an amazing start and very nearly managed to take the lead at the first corner, while Felipe brought home a significant points haul, in what was a special race for him, one year on from his accident. It's true that earlier in the season we have wasted great opportunities and there is still regret for some perplexing decisions, but we must look ahead and believe in the fact that today, we are in the fight for the Championship.

"This is the Ferrari I like to see," he continued, "and the one our fans want to see: a team that can fight and deliver the results. We must continue like this and then see where we are at the end. We know we must work even harder and with determination on the development of the car, but our people don't need me to tell them that."

Over the next few days, the team will be working to prepare the cars for the Belgian Grand Prix. The cars which raced in Hungary are already back at the Gestione Sportiva and are undergoing the usual rebuild.

Sunday sees the start of the compulsory two week break from all work, with activity resuming on Monday 23 August, everyone having fully recharged their batteries to tackle the final phase of a World Championship which looks like being a very open fight.

Then again, there's the WMSC hearing on September 8, two days before the Monza weekend gets underway.